Ultrawideband (UWB) wireless communication, in its most basic form, has been around since the beginning of wireless communication. According to one commonly held definition, a UWB signal is any signal wherein the bandwidth divided by the center frequency is roughly 0.25, or more. Recently (Feb. 14, 2002), the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) approved the use of a pulsed-RF UWB technology for unlicensed operation. UWB offers the potential to communicate at very high data rates (hundreds of megabits per second) with very low radiated power (200 microwatts or less) over short distances (10 meters or less). To date, this potential is yet to be realized, as there is not yet a commercially available UWB solution for this unlicensed application.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has established a standards task group, i.e., IEEE 802.15.3 TG3a, to study proposals for a standardized UWB wireless physical layer (PHY) representing the channel characteristics above. In addition to the promise of high-speed communications, another goal of the standard is to enable ranging measurements between UWB-equipped devices. While no specific accuracy/precision requirement has been set by TG3a, it has been generally assumed that with communications links of 1–10meters, a measurement accuracy/precision of 1 meter or better will be required.
Just such a solution is offered in the detailed description, below.